Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of containers and more specifically containers for holding edible products, such as, popcorn.
Description of the Prior Art
In my U.S. Design Patent D746,110 issued Dec. 29, 2015, I disclose a popcorn bucket that has a bottom portion to extend into a cup holder recess of a chair arm, for example, as typically found in a movie theatre or other such entertainment facility. My disclosure herein provides for the utility aspects of my invention.
A variety of different types of containers have been provided for holding edible products and in particular products that are consumed while watching various entertainments and in particular movies. In many cases, the containers are quite large with the food provided within the container being shared by two people sitting side-by-side in separate arm chairs. As a result, containers have been provided with a bottom extension which will fit into the cup holder recess provided in the chair arm thereby eliminating the need for separately holding the container. Several different versions are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,536 issued to Cassese et al.
A sample of prior art containers include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,079 issued to Jeng, U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,449 issued to Kazmierski et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 1,665,289 issued to Weaver. In both the Jeng and Kazmierski et al. patents, multiple containers are disclosed in a stacked condition. Despite the prior art containers, there is still a need for a container that may be removably held in the cup holder recess of a chair with the container being relatively stable preventing the container from being knocked out of the cup holder and spilled onto people located adjacent the cup holder. At the same time, the container must be easily inserted into and then removed from the cup holder. Disclosed herein is a hands free popcorn bucket that improves over the prior devices and in particularly provides rigidity and stability relative to the bucket and the arm chair.
In addition to disclosure of the structure of my new and improved bucket, I have further disclosed a method for producing same employing low cost techniques and materials. The method includes producing the bucket manually or manufactured in automated fashion.